(My) *HIDDEN* [secret]

The Empress snorts.
"I don't want a second chance, I just want to get away from it all!" she answers coldly. Now Zora rises up and faces the Empress.
"No. You want to be with Kodiak, because you still love him. The reason you hate him.... is because you love him. You fear him, don't you? Because he brings out what you would call weakness?" Zora asks her future self. The Empress frowns.
"You're right. I can't stop loving him, because I will always have the beautiful memories of before. But I can never, ever forgive him for what he did!"

"What did he do? we all want this solved." kodiak stated.

The Empress frowns looking at them all.
"Well?" she asks Zumi, however realizes she won't have any answer from there. The Empress sighs and sits down on a rock.
"I guess I should take it all from start. Long story short, in order to save Kodiak's life when father mortally wounded him, I had to open a portal to Hell, but to prevent a catastrophy from occuring I also had to enter it. Kodiak learned that once every millenium it would snow in Hell. That would be the time when he could save me. We calculated next snowstorm was scheduled ten years away, so he promised to wait faithfully until that day whne he would reunite with me." She looks at Zora, then at Kodiak and finally Zumi. She opens her mouth, trying to say the words, however it takes many attempts until they come out.
"He cheated on me." she says growling. Tears flash in her eyes, however they fail to escape.

"What!" kodiak exclaimed passing the empress and lifting zumi with one hand, "Why?! How could you....i....."
"That's wrong every day was spent for you i left my house only to pluck the prityest flower and lay it next to your picture, kinni brought me food once aday but i barly ate, it was hell for me up as it was for you down there!" zumi shouted.

The time stops completely for Zora. She can almost hear the own beats of her heart as her eyes become empty by confuion, and filled by tears. Every limb of her body agrees; she has to run. She turns and in an instant she starts running, running without a goal.
The Empress glares at Zumi.
"For five years, yes. You didn't know, did you, how I had access to watching your every single move?! For five years you were like a marture, yes. But none of that matters for what you did! I kept on waiting for you to come, but eleven years later, long after the snowstorm had passed... you were not there! And when I used the Mirror to see you...." HEr knuckles crackle as she is unable to continue.
"Did you love her? Just wondering."

"Who are you talking about? i never loved any one elts!" zumi exclaimed.

The Empress' eyes harden.
"So she was just there to satisfy the devilish needs I thought you could live without for ever." she says coldly.

She stops up under a tree, breathing heavily as she falls to her knees. The tears shed from her eyes are like floods, she had never believed this of Kodiak. Never! She thought she was special, she thought that he would sacrifice everything for her like he said. Clearly not. She slams her fist into the ground with a crying growl.

"I should just kill my self right now, but first i have to try and repare a heart that has been broken." kodiak growld tossing zumi to the side calming down and walking after zora.
Zumi stood. "I never left my home zorro and kinn are the only other ones besides the two of us that know that sanctuarys location!"

The Empress turns away from him, once again to hide something in her face.
"You're a cheater, a liar and a fool. Can't you see it's already broken? Your lies have torn us apart, I would have given you a second chance. But your lies consumed that chance, I'm only letting ou live because I remember the pain when I thought I had killed you before." she says.

Zora looks to her side, where there is a small puddle. Looking down in it she can see how the tears fall, break the surface and mix with the rain water, fall, break, mix, fall, break, mix in an endless cycle. Seh can see herself a bit, the lost eyes, the little child in a half-grown womans body. She realizes, ffinally, how it really felt when she was alone long time ago.

"I never cheted. If i had why would i still be whereing this!" Zumi prodused his pendent, an almost exact replica of the one he had made for zora.

A gentle hand layed it's self on zora's shoulder.

The Empress glances backwards, winces at the sight of his locket. She crosses her arms, subconsciously to hide her own away.
"Maybe it is me you love. I don't know. But one thing I know, you failed your promise to help me out and you failed your promise to stay faithful. " she answers coldly.

Zora twitches as she turns her head. She sees Kodiak, and without a sound she lowers her head again, trying to figure out what she wants. Part of her wants to cry in his arms, part of her wants to scream, part of her wants to reject his hand. None of these things happen, she just sits there, letting the tears fall into the puddle during a thick silence.

(Why didn;t he, it's hard if i don;t know to go on.)

Kodiak sighd. "I know i've just become the bigest ass in the world, and i deserve it, if any thing this is my fault, i should have hid my felings and none of this would of hapened."

((He did keep his promises, but Judas tricked her by using a replica of Kodiak and some random girl. Also, he made time fly by faster in Hell, so it really just passed five mobian years before Zora appeared in front of Kodiak and tried to kill him))

Zora doesn't find much good to answer with as she stares down into the puddle. Fall, break, mix. Why would Kodiak be doing that? Fall, break, mix. If there's one temptation Kodiak would have resisted it would have been that of lust. Fall, break, mix. Or was she just easy to forget after eleven years? Fall, break, mix. No one has ever given Zora the same feeling of being wanted as Kodiak has, why would he burn it down? Fall, break, mix. She finally gets enough of the procedure and turns her head up, the tears showing.
"I..." She start off, but her throat gets stuck on the words disabling her to continue.

"All i know is five years after you where pulled down, after i failed, you reapeared and tried to kill me!" if any of the otheres where still alive they would vouch for me, because they saw me slap away a girl the one time i left my home." zumi explained.

Kodiak shook his head. "I think it might be better for us all if i'm the one who died. I'm sorry zora. i'm the sourse of your pain."

Zora turns around to Kodiak and grabs his arm, instinctively without thinking she gets up from where she sits.
"No!" she exclaims very shortly, holding his arm.
"You... you can't. A guardian never leaves his friends!" she tries, putting aside everything right now when in such a panicked state.

The Empress glares at him.
"Don't lie to me, Kodiak! I saw the snowstorm in Hell, but you weren't there! I couldn't do anything without outer help, and you let me down! For a girl you didn't even love!" she snarls walking threatfully closer.

"What guardian am i when i failed everybody?" kodiak asked.

"Zora listen to me. I waited and waited only leaveing my home once. and that was when i showed every one that none could take my heart." zumi explained.

Zora looks down to the ground.
"I don't want you to die..." she whispers breathlessly.


The Empress snorts out aloud.
"Maybe not your heart, but clearly other parts of you could be taken..." she says spitefully.

"Zora i swear on the six swords on my mother and the brass knuckles of my father that i was entierly yours that i left noone that close to me, heck my friends could barely get a helop out of me! what chance did a stranger have?" zumi exclaimed.

Kodiak sighed."Do i deserve you, your trust? What if, what if there is nothing i can do, and fate has me to tight in her grip to do any thing but strugle feablely?"

Zora swallows hard, trying to blink away old tears.
"I don't want you to die." she repeats whispering. She has hard saying she'll trust him, but she can tell him that she wants him here.

The Empress shakes her head.
"Speak all you want, it proves nothing to me. I've seen it for myself, Kodiak, I know the truth."

"Do you? How do you know it's not an ilusian made by hell? Of you...." Zumi's eyes widened. "Why that peice of shit!"

kodiak looked at zora, "I know i don't deserve it but can i some how regain your trust?"

Zora gathers all courage and takes his hands, looking up in his eyes. Her eyes glimmer of fear, the fear that he would take himself away fro her, fear that she would be left all alone. But somehow also the blind trust.
"You stayed with the Empress, me, even when you found out. You said we could change fate." She pulls him closer to herself.
"Kodiak, I put my full trust in you!"

The Empress raises an eyebrow, frowning.
"What's the matter?" she asks, when suddenly she starts to realize everything. Ten years in Hell, where every day was worse than ten of the previous. She remembers how Zora was tricked by the Empress herself to believe the same thing. Everything comes clear to her again. The feeling is overwhelming, she falls to her knees with a grunt breathing heavily. And suddenly her emotonal barriers burst. She breaks out in violent tears, curling up over her knees crying.
"I'm such an idiot!" she shouts crying.
((gtg))

Kodiak startled, he hadn't expected this, slowly he lets his tears fall, tears of joy. "Thank you, i will not let you die.

Zumi ran over to the future zora. "We both are, i should have seen it comeing now at least we can redeam our selfs."

The Empress curls up tightly over her knees, th emotional barriers have been teared down and Kodiak's earlier words start getting to her for real as she sobs violently, repeating the same whisper over and over.
"Our child..." she whispers breathlessly every third second. Her hair, red as blood, slowly fades, taking on her natural black hair colour.

Zora smiles squeezing his hands.
"Then let's change fate!"

"I'm sorry." zumi whispered. "I should have been thew one dragged down not you then our child would be alive at least."

Kodiak nodded "This time neather of us will suffer!"

The Empress shakes her head.
"It's not your fault." she whispers and clenches her fist.
"It's that damn Judas! He bears all responsibility, and he shall die!"

Zora smiles and leans forward in a deep kiss.